Systems And Methods For Vehicle Movement Parental Control With Child Detection

Abstract

Vehicle movement parental control with child detection systems and methods are disclosed herein. An example method can include determining presence of a known child in a vehicle, activating a drive lock mode of the vehicle to prevent the vehicle from being driven based on the presence of the known child, providing a request for authorization to allow the vehicle to be driven, and continuing or disabling use of the drive lock mode of the vehicle based upon a response to the request for authorization.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 determining a presence of a known child in a vehicle;   activating, based on the presence of the known child, a drive lock mode of the vehicle to prevent the vehicle from being driven;   providing, based on the vehicle being in the drive lock mode, a request for authorization to allow the vehicle to be driven; and   continuing or disabling, based upon a response to the request for authorization, the drive lock mode of the vehicle.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the request for authorization is provided to a mobile device or a human machine interface of the vehicle. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein determining the presence of the known child comprises:
 obtaining images of the known child; and   performing facial recognition on the images to identify the known child.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein determining the presence of the known child comprises identifying the known child using voice recognition. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein determining the presence of the known child comprises detecting the known child based on seat sensor data. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the drive lock mode comprises:
 activation of a fuel cutoff;   engagement of a parking brake;   engagement of one or more door locks;   engagement of an engine lock;   engagement of a powertrain lock; and/or   engagement of a steering wheel lock.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the drive lock mode of the vehicle is continued when the response to the request for authorization fails. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising tracking movement of the vehicle when the known child is present in the vehicle. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the movement to a mobile device as turn-by-turn data. 
     
     
         10 . A vehicle computer, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory for storing instructions, the processor executing the instructions to:
 determine a presence of a known child in a vehicle; 
 activate, based on the presence of the known child, a drive lock mode of the vehicle to prevent the vehicle from being driven; 
 provide, based on the vehicle being in the drive lock mode, a request for authorization to allow the vehicle to be driven; and 
 continue or disable, based upon a response to the request for authorization, the drive lock mode of the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         11 . The vehicle computer according to  claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the presence of the known child by detecting the presence of the known child computing device in the vehicle. 
     
     
         12 . The vehicle computer according to  claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the presence of the known child by:
 obtaining images of the known child from an image sensing platform; and   performing facial recognition on the image to identify the known child.   
     
     
         13 . The vehicle computer according to  claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the presence of the known child by:
 detecting the known child using voice recognition; or   measuring seat sensor data that are indicative of a weight of the known child.   
     
     
         14 . The vehicle computer according to  claim 10 , wherein the drive lock mode comprises:
 activation of a fuel cutoff;   engagement of a parking brake;   engagement of one or more door locks;   engagement of an engine lock; and/or   engagement of a powertrain lock.   
     
     
         15 . The vehicle computer according to  claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 track movement of the vehicle when the known child is present in the vehicle; and   transmit the movement to a mobile device, the movement being displayed on the mobile device.   
     
     
         16 . The vehicle computer according to  claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 receive a disable command from the mobile device; and   reactivate, based on the disable command, the drive lock mode.   
     
     
         17 . A method, comprising:
 determining a presence of a known child in a vehicle;   activating a drive lock mode of the vehicle to prevent the vehicle from being driven based on the presence of the known child;   providing a request for authorization to a mobile device or a human machine interface of the vehicle to allow the vehicle to be driven;   receiving a response to the request from the mobile device or the human machine interface of the vehicle; and   continuing or disabling use of the drive lock mode of the vehicle based upon the response.   
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17 , further comprising determining the presence of a second user in the vehicle, wherein the mobile device is configured to disable the drive lock mode of the vehicle to allow the second user to drive the vehicle when the known child is present in the vehicle. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , further comprising receiving a disable command from the mobile device when the second user is not authorized to drive the vehicle, and activating the drive lock mode in response to the disable command. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the drive lock mode comprises activating a fuel cutoff of a fuel system, engaging a parking brake, engaging one or more door locks to lock vehicle doors, engaging a steering wheel lock, engaging an engine lock to prevent engine start, and/or engaging a powertrain lock.